Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Honor


At WOW (Women on Wednesday - at church) I have tried to get involved with a class that is reading through a book entitled"Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes...in you and your kids!". When I say that I have tried to get involved that means that I've actually only been to one class out of four. I missed the first two classes, attended the third, then was called out of the fourth class to be with my baby. Today we will also miss class because the baby is still getting over a cold. I have come to thoroughly enjoy going to WOW mainly to get out of the house and socialize with other women. So today is kind of like a blow to me...I need some other adults to talk to! Anyway, last night as I was preparing for class today, I was reading the first five chapters to get caught up. The main theme in this book is how to teach Honor to your children, not just obedience. According to the authors, Honor is defined as
"Treating people as special, doing more than what's expected, and having a good attitude."
The whole honor issue is making a lot of sense to me. But I can't help but feel guilty reading part of it. You see, this book also deals with me...the parent. It reminds me that I must honor my husband and my children by going the extra mile, and by doing that with a cheerful heart. It is also dying to self. That is hard. Especially after a night of little sleep. Obedience is defined as
"Doing what someone says, right away, without being reminded."
I can do that. I can try to teach my children to obey me. But we need to constantly model honor to them so they can see how to honor us and other people in return. Another thoughtful sentence in the book, pg. 29, states "Although obedience gets the job done, honor addresses how the job is done. Honor keeps a family running smoothly. It brings joy to the giver as well as to the receiver." This is something I clearly need to work on. When I'm cranky and tired and crave more sleep, I still need to honor my husband and children during the day. I shouldn't allow my attitude to seep into my family life. No matter how awful I feel. This book strips my emotions down to the core, for I realized after reading just a few chapters that I am the one who needs to make the change, not so much my family. If that's not raw, I don't know what is.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Neat post, Amanda. Isn't it funny that sometimes when we feel like everyone else "needs to make some changes", we figure out it's ourselves that need some work?! That happens to me all the time. I am trying to work on being more positive - that way I will attract other positive people into my life. I think that we have influence over everyone we encounter by what we radiate. If I'm around someone negative, it's too easy to be sucked in and start feeling that way too. I've noticed that when I feel good, sometimes others appear to feel good too.